The Hallway with Large Windows
by Queen Nightingale
Summary: It was wrong, the way that he wanted her and the way that his fingers were ghosting over her hips like raindrops in a sun shower and the way that her breathing was heavy and the way that she was pressed too close too close to him in the broom closet. JPLE


**The Hallway with Large Windows**

**Author:** Queen Nightingale  
**Rating:** M (Sexual contact and swearing)  
**A/N:**My inspiration for this piece came from a fantastic writer (in real-life) known as Meg Rosoff. I was basically imitating her style and incorporating it into the story, so tell me how that worked out. I'm a huge fan of her work, and a reviewer told me that I sounded somewhat like her, so I wanted to see what Lily/James would be like in her style. My writing is still definitely present though, with overabundant metaphors and similes. Hope you enjoy! (PS: The last line is a revamp of a famous quote.)

****%//****---\\%****

**It should be musical, and sing  
Seductively of dreams.  
It should be passion frozen, so  
Solidified it burns;  
Thoughts crystalline and shimmering  
Out and in by turns.  
**- _Anonymous_

****%//****---\\%****

It was wrong.

It was everything that it wasn't supposed to be and everything that it was supposed to be wrapped up in a tinfoil blanket and heated over a fire, like a s'more.

It was wrong, the way that he wanted her and the way that his fingers were ghosting over her hips like raindrops in a sun shower and the way that her breathing was heavy and the way that she was pressed too close too close to him in the broom closet.

"Lily …"

And that one word was wrong, so wrong, such a wrong name because it wasn't supposed to be her, she was too perfect, that was all that could run through his mind as he moaned her name out and her lips touched his neck and oh Merlin he was flying.

And he looked down and kept his eyes open behind his wide-rimmed glasses because he didn't want to miss a second of her porcelain skin entwined with his and the way that her persimmon lips danced over his collarbone, and the feel of her hand trailing up his chest and slowly pulling off his shirt.

And this wasn't how he wanted it to be, wasn't where he was supposed to be, he was supposed to be in class but he couldn't tear his skin away from her lips and his eyes off her burning burning red hair and remember to breathe, James, remember to breathe.

His breath ricocheted in and out of his chest cavity like a _rocket to the moon_ and he inhaled sharply when he dared to trace the inclines of her face with his fingertips when she looked up at him and her green eyes were so bright so lovely so summertime that he couldn't help gasping at her beauty and the fact that her hands were going lower and lower and lower and he should stop her and lower and lower and finally unzipping the zipper and he should really stop her now.

But he didn't stop her. Because James Potter wasn't noble. James Potter was wrong.

* * *

"Potter, you nitwit, focus on the task," she said, turning around to face him in the Charms classroom, disrupting his concentration on casting a tickling charm on Sirius from across the room, "We'll never get this done otherwise."

James rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if you weren't such a nerd we could have been done years ago," he muttered under his breath, lifting his eyes up to hers.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," she said, her teeth gritted as she slammed a textbook on his desk, "Now look up the goddamn charm, James."

"_Fine_."

Pause.

"You know, maybe if you actually participated we could finish this sooner, instead of you just moping around that you aren't dry-humping Black over there!"

"Maybe you should shut up, Evans."

* * *

"I want you a bit and … ugh, this sounds so awkward, … and yeah."

He nodded at her silent between-the-words question, his eyes focused on her burnished red lips.

And oh Merlin was that her _tongue_ and was she really going to do what he thought hoped shouldn't think that she was wasn't going to actually do but she shouldn't because she was good and he was bad bad bad …

Fuck.

_Fuck._

**FUCK.**

* * *

"Okay, you know what?"

"What _now_, Lily?!" James said, throwing his hands up in exasperation and ruffling his hair, his quill falling off of his desk, "What else do you want to add to this essay? Maybe Pixie Rights? The Ogre Wars? The Troll Epidemic of 1913?"

"There was no Troll Epidemic of 1913," Lily retorted, her eyes gleaming with anger, "And if you don't want to hear my suggestion, fine. I'll just do all the work like normal, since I always end up doing all the work in these projects." With that last sentence, she stood up in a huff and marched towards Professor Flitwick, James staring at her in irritation from his sprawled out position in his chair.

"It's not my fault that we always get partnered together," James said loudly, making Lily snort as she stomped down the stairs towards Flitwick, who looked mildly intimidated by an angry Lily coming charging towards him.

"Yes, Miss Evans?" Flitwick squeaked out, Lily coming to an abrupt halt in front of him.

"May James and I go to the library to pick up resources for our essay?"

"Certainly, as long as you come back by the end of the period. I am hoping that this will be an incredibly effective work period for the majority of the class!"

Lily surreptiously looked around the classroom. In one corner, Michael Finch was levitating Dorothy Fletchley up, the girl squealing and pulling her skirt down. Sirius Black was charming Peter Pettigrew's hair blue, the latter boy ignorantly talking to Remus Lupin, who looked mildly amused. A group of Hufflepuff girls were blatantly giggling and waving at a Ravenclaw boy who poked his head through the doorway to the classroom, grinning at them, and the remaining Gryffindors at the front of the classroom were throwing magically charmed paper airplanes around the room, straddling their chairs with the cockiness and bravado of Japanese Fighting Fish.

"Yes, yes," Lily said, her voice trailing off, her eyes sweeping back to look at Flitwick, who looked immensely proud of himself for the 'effective work period' going on in class, "Very effective, Professor. Now if you don't mind?"

"Certainly, Miss Evans, go right ahead."

Pause.

Swivel.

"JAAAAAAAAAAMESSSSSS!!!"

"Holy _shit_ Evans," James said, his eyes widening at the sight of Lily imitating a foghorn and hollering up at him, "I'm like six feet away from you!"

"Hurry up!" Lily said, grinning widely, then walking casually out of the classroom.

James groaned, grabbed his schoolbag, and then chased after her.

* * *

His knuckles turned white, and his head moved back, and his hair swept over his forehead like a slight breeze or soft touch of air.

"M-m-merlin, Lily."

She looked up at him and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her eyes while she was doing that that fantastic wrong thing to him. And they were like pools of liquid green and he knew that they would haunt him forever now.

Then she dropped the gaze and did something strange with her mouth but LORD it felt good and his knuckles turned whiter as he grasped the sides of the broom closet to keep from falling down and he started heaving a bit, the heat from his mouth steaming up the undersides of his glasses.

He moaned out loud again, a louder one than he ever dared to before, and her eyes jumped back up to meet his, and she hummed in appreciation, the sound vibrating through her entire mouth.

He came right there.

* * *

"Lily, wait up!"

Lily stopped abruptly in her tracks, nearly causing James to slam right into her from his running pace.

"Do you _ever_ do anything normally?" he said, slightly miffed, staring at her rod-iron back and short (short short short) skirt and long (long long long nice long very very nice) legs.

"Maybe if you stopped checking out my arse I'd have the time to."

"Okay, you know what, Lily, this is _enough_!" James said suddenly, throwing his papers up into the air with a swish and watching them drift down, anger creeping up his face, "You don't control me!"

Lily slowly swivelled around, her wide eyes curious as she eyed up his angry stance. Her red hair swished as she turned and in that moment he just wanted to coat it with kisses and love songs and nightingales and

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"I like you, okay?!" James exploded suddenly, unable to take the pressure of her glance and their solitude in the hallway with the large windows, unable to take her gaze of questioning and eternity and longing (?), "I can't help it but that doesn't mean that you can just throw it in my _face_, okay Lily, that's not right to do."

"You what?"

"I LIKE you, Lily, I really do, and it's not something that a _moral_ person with a _conscience_ would shove in the other person's face like that, you don't control me like a dog. It's _wrong_ to do that, okay," James said, a blush creeping up his face, his eyes large and circular behind his thick-rimmed glasses, his hand shakily mussing up his hair, the remainder of the paper floating to the ground around him, "And I'm _sorry_ and I know it's _wrong_ but I can't help it."

"Say it again."

And suddenly she was too close to him and her eyes were too large and were like moons in front of him and his hands were shaking because he didn't want to say it again because she would just rip him and rip him and tear him in the hallway with the large windows.

"Say it, James. P-Please. What were you saying?"

And her eyes creased in something like confusion, and in that moment he wanted to just die and sink into the ground because it wasn't easy for a bloke like him, okay, because he was moderately popular and had that to lose, to tell the _beautiful impertinent popular stubborn _Lily Evans that he was suffering from a massive case of unrequited love for her.

"I like you, Lily," he said, staring at her, "I like you and I have for the past couple of years now, even though you hate me because of Snape and I'm sorry. I know that this is awkward and I hope it won't ruin our working relationship because of this and - "

"Shut up."

And suddenly she was kissing him and the world was revolving around his feet and no-one existed aside from Lily.

Then suddenly he was shoving her into a broom closet and his world shattered around his feet and he revolved for a bit in outer space.

Which was completely cool with him.

* * *

He stood there, leaning heavily against the side of the closet, heaving massive breaths and staring down flabbergasted at Lily, who was smirking up at him from on her knees.

"Where the _hell_ did you learn that?"

"I didn't learn it," Lily said, standing up and entwining her hands around his neck, making his heart start beating too quickly again, "You taught me it."

As blood rushed back up to his brain he grinned at her, curling his hands around her waist and gently moving her towards him, a slight smile on her face.

"Well, I must be a very good teacher, then."

"Or I'm a very good learner, you know, I really am, I'm very fast at these sorts of things even if I've got a lame teacher haha, I'm good at lear-"

And then he picked her up and whirled around and shoved her back into the broom closet and she moaned and curled her legs around his waist and he just wanted to hear her make that noise again so he decided that he would learn a bit from her.

"James …"

And as he softly kissed his way too tenderly too little but too much down her collarbone and she breathily sighed his name in the cramped broom closet in the hallway with the large windows he realized that yes it was wrong because it was too fast too hot but that was okay.

Because when it involved him and her, too much of a wrong thing was wonderful.


End file.
